Secure Communities Program To Move Ahead Without State Approval
John Morton, director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sent letters to governors and local officials last week announcing that ICE was terminating their agreements to participate in the Secure Communities program, a move that in itself could be a call for celebration from opponents of the controversial federal program.
But that was just part of the letter.
Morton went on to say that agreements with state and local officials were not legally necessary for federal agencies to share submitted information, including fingerprint data, with other federal agencies. Because governors and local law enforcement agencies across the country had been signing memorandums of agreement (MOA) to participate in the Secure Communities program, the impression was that it was voluntary. Morton said he intended to “clarify an issue that has been the subject of substantial confusion” by terminating the existing MOAs and announcing the program would continue to expand without them, ultimately being implemented nationwide by 2013.
The Secure Communities program was first piloted in 2008 as a way of identifying undocumented immigrants and starting the process of deportation. When a local police department arrests and fingerprints a suspect, it’s routine to check those records with the FBI. States and local agencies that had signed MOAs were agreeing to also have that fingerprint data sent to ICE to check whether the suspect was in the country legally.
Initially, the program was thought to focus only on undocumented immigrants with a serious criminal history. This would allow immigration officials to prioritize limited resources for those committing more violent crimes while focusing less on those with only minor offenses.
In practice, however, the program has also resulted in the deportation of people convicted of only minor offenses, traffic violations, or even some with no convictions at all. This prompted some officials, like Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, to try and opt out of the program. When Quinn tried to deactivate Illinois from the program, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the program was mandatory, which has led to much of the confusion referenced in Morton’s letter.
Supporters of Secure Communities, like Napolitano and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), argue the program is necessary to identify and remove dangerous criminals from the country.
Morton’s letter does stress that prosecutorial discretion should be used to focus on enforcement priorities and that victims of crimes should be protected. Critics of the program say if non-criminal offenders or even victims of crimes fear they will face deportation, relations with local law enforcement might be hindered and crimes could go unreported.
Nationwide, 120,684 people have been deported under the Secure Communities program since 2008, over 34,000 of which were not convicted of a criminal offense, according to ICE data.
64 people have been deported from St. Louis City and St. Louis County since the two jurisdictions joined the program in September 2010, 47 of which were non-criminal immigration violators.
Category: Enforcement
